


Long Forgotten Memories.

by cutenewt



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: A lot of crying too, Angst, Angst and Feels, Autistic Newt Scamander, BABY NIFFLERS, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, First Kiss, Heavy Angst, Living in Newt Scamander's Suitcase, Minor Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, POV Tina Goldstein, Post-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Protective Newt Scamander, Protective Queenie Goldstein, So much angst, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-12 20:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16002383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutenewt/pseuds/cutenewt
Summary: Tina is suffering from nightmares and flashbacks from losing Credence in the battle with Grindelwald. She’s missing Newt and he isn’t returning her letters. When she sees the photo of him in the newspaper; none other than Leta Lestrange to be the one who is leaving a fond touch against him from her hand, Tina gives up. Newt has clearly forgotten all about her.





	1. Chapter 1

 

**_Long Forgotten Memories._ **

 

-

 

**_Tina is suffering from nightmares and flashbacks from losing Credence in the battle with Grindelwald. She’s missing Newt and he isn’t returning her letters. When she sees the photo of him in the newspaper; none other than Leta Lestrange to be the one who is leaving a fond touch against him from her hand, Tina gives up. Newt has clearly forgotten all about her._ **

 

-

 

**_By Sam._ **

 

  
__\- {Song of the chapter - All I want, Kodaline.}_ \- _

 

 

**_Six months after Newt had left New York…_ **

 

Tina wakes up with a start, the same way as the night before and the night before that. Her cheeks are dampened with tears that she’s shed during a bad dream, and her head is spinning when she sits up. With a prolonged sigh, the witch’s feet touch the floor of the spare bedroom; she’s been sleeping in there for the past few weeks. It’s easier because then she doesn’t disturb Queenie.

 

She tiptoes out of the room and into the kitchen. There’s a small box hidden in the bottom drawer, and Tina retrieves it carefully — not wanting to make any noise. She’s unsure of the time, but it’s still pitch black outside so it’s most likely the early hours of the morning. As the brunette takes a seat at the kitchen table, she exhales before opening the box up. Inside is a writing set — paper, ink and a quill all lying waiting for her to use again. She hasn’t picked it up in just over a month now, since he hasn’t returned any of the letters she’d sent before.

 

Maybe this time it’ll be different.

 

Tina dips the end of the quill in the ink pot, pausing to wipe her eyes with her fingertips. ‘Dear, Newt…’ just writing the words seem to tighten her chest. It’s silly, really it is. He’s probably extremely busy with his manuscript and a new beast or two. But, she’s written him a letter every month since she left and she even wrote two the second month just to make sure he was alright. Queenie says he must be caught up in the life of a writer, and that he’s probably got a ton of letters to send but he never gets the time to post them. Tina wonders if they got lost in the mail, or if maybe he sent them to the wrong address and somebody else has them in the back of a drawer or tossed aside into a forgotten place.

 

_Dear Newt,_

_it’s Tina again.I’m still an auror - thanks to you, really._

_I hope the manuscript is coming along nicely._

_Things here are the same, clearing up after what happened and all._

_Come and visit soon?_

_Take care of yourself._

_Tina Goldstein._

 

She inhales a shaky breath, then sits back in her chair and waits for the ink to dry. Tina thinks that she will post it tomorrow before she goes to work. They haven’t been working on anything big recently, just ensuring that all of the no-maj’s aren’t remembering anything and finding ones who somehow failed to be obliviated etc. There’s been one or two protestors against Grindelwald getting locked up, so her fellow aurors have been dealing with them. Graves came back last month, and things are sort of back to normal. Tina somewhat misses when everything went to chaos as that little creature escaped and she had to exasperatedly explain to the British man about how inconvenient he was truly being.

 

A smile curves her mouth, and Tina laughs softly. ‘I have things to do you know!’ That’s what he had said as she dragged him across the road to his arrest. She’d never heard anyone protest their punishment so… Newt-like before. The witch clears her throat, feeling rather silly to tear up at the memory. Tina leans forward, touching the ink with her index finger to ensure that it’s dry. She then folds the letter, and places it in an envelope. She scrawls the address onto the front and puts everything else back into the box, returning it to it’s hiding place.

 

Queenie only knew about the first two letters, and then she discovered the third because Tina accidentally left it out on the counter. After no reply came from this letter she made sure to hide every other letter, because she really does feel like a fool to keep trying. But, at the same time Tina knows that Newt wouldn’t purposefully ignore her. At least, she’s quite sure that he wouldn’t. But, maybe he’s changed since he got back to England? He said it himself, didn’t he. ‘People change.’ And, maybe he changed again.

 

-

 

The next morning Tina found herself opening her eyes and feeling a crick in her neck. It isn’t until she comes around properly that she realises that she must have fallen asleep at the table. Atop of the letter, and now ink is smudged all over her face. She groans loudly, getting up and squinting at the now rising sun that’s peeking through the laced curtains across the room. There’s no other sound but the muffled chirping of the bird outside, so that means Queenie isn’t awake yet and Tina isn’t late for work.

 

A small sigh of relief leaves her lips, and she picks up the letter and goes into the spare room. She takes a shower and grabs an apple for her breakfast on the go. Queenie always scolds her for this, but they haven’t been talking so much recently. It’s just easier if Tina avoid her, because otherwise she brings up emotions and Tina is bad at those. As she leaves the apartment, she pockets her letter and decides to walk to work in an attempt for the early morning air to wake her a little better.

 

It’s the middle of June now, and the weather is growing warmer. Peoples’ spirits seem to be raising at work, talking about summertime and the time they’ll be spending with their families visiting different destinations on their time off. Tina usually just nods and smiles along with them, occasionally offering any question or two about how the kids are or something ‘normal’ like that.

 

Thankfully though today she makes it all the way to her desk without anybody even uttering a word of ‘morning’ to her. Tina’s desk is now back within the same vicinity of her fellow aurors, and no longer the demoted piece of wood that sat in the dark corners of the wand permit office. She has a report to finish that’s about the latest no-maj they had to obliviate last week — a young witch out with her mother had accidentally levitated a whole cart of apples, and the poor man selling them almost fainted. The family got off with a warning, because she was only six and just coming to terms with her powers. Tina was a little concerned on how harshly a few of the aurors had talked about the incident after, so she’d offered to write the report for the whole team.

 

After about an hour of writing, Tina hears footsteps, followed by somebody obnoxiously clearing their throat. She doesn’t even have to look up to know who it must be. “Abernathy. What d’ya want?” Her voice deadpans, still writing with her quill.

 

“Your sister is late again, Goldstein. You seen her?”

 

Suddenly the witch feels a small pang of guilt. Queenie usually travels to work beside her, but recently Tina has been awake so early that she’s left alone. “Uh, no… What is the time?” She murmurs, rolling up her shirt sleeve to reveal that she’s actually forgotten her watch.

 

“It’s past nine. She’s twenty two minutes late now,” he complains.

 

Tina knows how much her sibling likes to annoy this man, but it’s not like her to be this late for work no matter how much it irks Abernathy. “Do you want me to go look for her? I’m practically done with this report anyway.” She offers, trying to hide the fact that she’s worrying.

 

“Hey, Goldstein? You okay… you look tired.” He squints at her, as if trying to read her before she can lie.

 

Feeling her cheeks grow warm from embarrassment, Tina looks back down at her paper and grips the quill tighter. “I’m _fine._  I’ll go look for Queenie,” she snaps, before disapparating.

 

She goes back to the apartment first, wondering if her sister has simply overslept. It wouldn’t be the first time, but usually Tina would still home to wake her up so they can travel together. Upon arriving in the living room everything seems quiet at first, until a noise comes from the bedroom her sister was asleep in last night. Withdrawing her wand and holding it in a defensive stance, the eldest sister creeps towards the bedroom. She pushes open the door with force, and then lives to regret this exact moment. Because, there on the bed is Queenie with somebody in her arms.

 

“MERCY LEWIS, NO!” Tina squeaks loudly, almost walking directly into the door upon her rapid exit.

 

She has known that Queenie’s been seeing someone, and Tina also knows that she’s been revisiting Jacob’s bakery ever since he’d walked away from their lives. It’s just… Tina had hoped to never see _that_. “Teenie, oh gosh!” Her sister’s frantic cry travels through the half open door, and a few moments later she comes rushing out loosely wearing her pink nightgown.

 

“I — I can’t with you right now.” Tina grimaces, not able to look her sister in the eye as she tugs the strap to her attire over her bare shoulder.

 

“Sorry, Teenie. We was just… he wanted to kiss me goodbye before work.” The blonde giggles with glee.

 

Tina shuts her eyes.

 

“I also, um, I didn’t really know how’t tell you that…” she trails off. “Y’know.”

 

“You’re with the no-maj President Piqoury swore had to be obliviated from all magical memories?”

 

Queenie blushes. “Uh huh.”

 

Her sister sighs, leaving the hallway and wandering back into the kitchen. She’s about to disapparate and go to tell Abernathy the overused lie that Queenie is under the weather and will not be at work today, when something catches her eye. The paper that’s usual delivered each morning is lying on the table, and one particular word stands out to her. ‘… Scamander.’ Tina stops still, and reads out the secondary headline at the bottom of the front page.

 

“British Mazoologist, Newton Scamander, releases manuscript on how to care for fantastic beasts and where you can find them.” She feels like her heart could escape through her chest as it thumps faster each second, her hands reaching to turn the pages.

 

She finds the correct page of the article in question, but doesn’t bother to read it. All Tina can look at is the enlarged photo centre page; the photo of Newt and two girls beside him. One of them has her hand touching his arm, and it’s quite a fond touch if Tina has her opinion. Daring to read the caption, her fear is confirmed; ‘pictured right, Leta Lestrange.’

 

“Teenie —“ her sister starts, but it’s too late. Tina disapparates, not wanting to look at it anymore.

 

Unsure of where she was actually going, it’s no surprise she ends up outside of the same bank she’d first met him at. She actually chokes out a laugh at how ridiculous her brain really must be. Tina stumbles into the small back alley she’d first captured him in, then leans up against the wall. She’d already felt the tears coming back when her eyes had settled upon that photo, so Tina isn’t exactly shocked when they start to fall. Running down her cheeks and hitting the concrete below, each one leaving behind a tiny mark.

 

So, it’s true. Newt has forgotten her and she’s been wasting her time writing to him all this time. Tina pulls her knees to her chest, resting her head against them for a few minutes whilst the tears keep on coming. At first she’d felt upset, but now she’s beginning to feel quite angry. She removes her arms from hugging her legs, and legs them fall to the ground. The witch delves into her trouser pocket, and her fingers grasp the letter. She pulls it out into the open and rips it to pieces. Tina sniffs, and inhales slowly through her mouth. She isn’t going to let him get to her anymore. She can get by perfectly okay without him in her life.

 

Tina gets to her feet, brushes herself down and wipes away any stray tears from her face. Then she disparages back to work, ready to face Abernathy. Of course he’s waiting by her desk when she strides back over — he’s probably been there the whole time to be honest. “So?” He asks, tapping his foot impatiently.

 

“She’s sick.” Tina states bluntly, sitting down at her desk again.

 

“You’re kiddin’, right?” He scoffs, leaning against the desk and shaking his head in disbelief.

 

She looks up at him. “Do I look like I am kidding, Mr. Abernathy?”

 

“I — Uh… I guess not.” He stammers, taken aback by her change in tone.

 

Before Tina can curse at him, somebody else appears behind him. “Abernathy, Miss Goldstein has just arrived letting me know she awoke with a migraine, but is feeling much better.”

 

He spins around, backing up and bumping into the desk. Tina glares at the back of his head. “Mr. Graves!” Abernathy exclaims.

 

“I’m here to talk to Tina.” He replies.

 

Abernathy nods.

 

“So, _move_ , Abernathy.”

 

“Oh… right!” The man squeaks a little, shifting to the side before finally disapparating away.

 

Graves approaches the desk, his brow furrowed. “Tina, I’m concerned about you.”

 

“Um… thank you?” She mumbles, unsure of how to respond to such a forward statement.

 

He sighs, perching on the edge of her desk. “I feel that things are affecting you, relating to…” Graves stops for a moment, searching for the correct thread of words. “Everything that happened.”

 

“With all due respect, I’m fine, Sir. You endured a lot more than I did.” Tina answers, avoiding his gaze by staring at his tie instead.

 

“I’m serious, Tina. I’ve had others express their concerns to me over the recent weeks.”

 

The witch feels herself tense up. “Queenie,” She mutters through a clenched jaw.

 

“It’s of no matter to you who it was. I’m giving you two weeks leave —“

 

“No!” Tina abruptly ends his sentence, looking a little shocked at herself afterwards.

 

Graves stands up and starts walking away. “Once you have turned in this report your leave is effective. This isn’t up for debate, and I’ll expect you back no earlier than June 29th.” He tells her, looking back at her defeated expression with slight sadness.

 

She doesn’t bother to reply, and he leaves the office with echoing footsteps that seem to hurt her ears. Tina finishes the last few lines of her report, vision slightly blurred from gathering tears and an empty feeling in her chest. She drops the report on his desk without a single word after that, then disapparates back home.

 

-

 

**_1 week into Tina’s leave…_ **

 

Tina would be downright lying if she said she hadn’t been bored out of her mind the past seven days, and the worst thing about it is that the leave is barely helping either. Really all she’s done is some glorified moping, because she doesn’t want to admit that this is what she’s been doing. All the witch has managed to really do is clean the apartment a few times, bake one night with Queenie and have a cross between a confrontation and discussion with her sister about how exactly she’s keeping her secret from MACUSA. Then when the subject switched to Tina and how she’s feeling, she quickly got out of there.

 

So, this evening is just like any other evening that she’s been experiencing. Queenie is cooking in the kitchen and she’s curled up on the couch reading a book. The sisters are quiet, whilst Tina tries to focus her mind on the words before her rather than his tired she is but how afraid of sleep she’s slowly becoming. It’s crossed her mind to brew a sleeping draught more than once, but she knows that would worry Queenie to no ends if she found out. And, the poor girl is already worrying about Tina as it is.

 

“Dinner’s ready, Teen.” The blonde looks over, probably trying to read her mind like her sister has been reading that book so intently for the past hour and a half.

 

Tina is too tired to shut herself off, and as she stands up already feels her walls against Queenie’s powers crumbling. She’s had plenty of practice, but sometimes enough is simply enough. “Thanks,” the witch murmurs, taking a seat opposite.

 

“Um, Teenie?” The blonde asks quietly.

 

Looking up, her gaze is enough to let her sister know that she’s listening. “Will you come back to our room tonight? I get it if you’re mad about me and Jacob, I’m… I’m real sorry about that. I miss our late night talks.”

 

“You mean at three in the mornin’ when you ask me if flies have feelin’s?” Tina smirks, looking up from her dinner as she absentmindedly spins her fork admits the pasta.

 

Queenie giggles, frankly just happy to see her elder sibling show a sign of happiness. “That was a genuine question,” she defends herself.

 

“Alright, I’ll do it. It’s Sunday tomorrow and we could make pancakes!” Tina forces a smile, wanting to add some joy into her life.

 

The blonde nods excitedly. “It’ll be delightful!” She squeals.

 

They finish their dinner amongst idle chatter, talking about work and how Abernathy keeps bothering Queenie, Graves is asking how Tina is and also how much Queenie loves accidentally switching out the sugar for salt when it’s Abernathy’s department that wants coffee. Her younger sister can see that each time the subject adverts to something related to her wellbeing she grows more and more uncomfortable by the second. Queenie makes a silent promise to get some kind of explanation out of her, just when she’s feeling a little more up to it.

 

The pair head to bed after doing the dishes, and Tina falls asleep moments after her head hits the pillow. Her younger sister lies awake for a little bit longer, hearing quiet whimpers from the bed beside her. Knowing that Tina is suffering through another nightmare breaks Queenie’s heart, because she just wants to make all of her pain go away.

 

As Tina wakes up with a jolt, rapid gasps leaving her body, Queenie can’t pretend not to hear. She gets out of bed and envelopes her sister in a hug. “You don’t have to act okay with me, Teenie. It’s okay that you aren’t okay, honey.” She whispers, rubbing gentle circles against her back as she cries.

 

They stay like this for a fair few minutes, until the eldest sibling tugs away. “I’m sorry,” Tina wipes her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

 

“Your dreams… they’re of Credence?” She can see inside of her sister’s mind, her vulnerable state opening her up to an easy reading. “And, Newt too?”

 

Tina grimaces at the mention of the second name, before nodding. “I can’t save him, even in my dreams. As for Newt… you know what was on that paper, we’ve been dancing around the subject since I saw it. He forgot about me, now in each dream he ignores me as I cry for help.” Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as more tears spill over.

 

“Oh, sweetie. I’m sure he has not!” Queenie rests a hand upon Tina’s shoulder.

 

“You saw Leta.” Her voice has turned cold.

 

Queenie sighs softly. “Whatever the reasons towards that photo and why she was there, we truly don’t know until he arrives.”

 

Silence.

 

“Wh… What did you just say?” Tina’s voice is slow, almost eerily calm.

 

Her sister’s facial expression changes from sorrow to shock, and Tina can just about make out how she’s now avoiding eye contact and her eyes dart around the room. “I was gonna tell you, but —“

 

“Tell me what?!” The eldest witch blurts out.

 

Queenie sighs, her shoulders slumping then returning to normal posture again. “Newt’s book signing is comin’ to New York next week! I couldn’t say it yet, not with you missin’ him and feelin’ so heartbroken like you do. I’m sorry, Teenie.”

 

“Was it, uh, was it really that obvious how sad I’ve been feeling?” Tina goes quiet, fumbling with her fingers and looking down.

 

Her sister nods. “Every time I came home I could feel you hurtin’.” She admits. “I just want you to feel better again.” Queenie pouts sadly.

 

“Sorry,” the brunette mumbles.

 

“Don’t apologise! Course you’re gonna be upset. You’ll feel better though, I promise.” Queenie puts her arm around Tina, pulling her close.

 

“Do you think I should… uh, see Newt?” Her sister questions, already feeling nervous just thinking about the possibility of seeing him again. _Will he remember her? Will he want to even see her face?_

 

“Whatever you decide, I’ll be right here beside you. ‘Kay?”

 

Tina nods. “Thank you,” she replies sincerely. “For all of this.”

 

-

 

**_Wednesday, 26th June._ **

 

Tina manages a somewhat solid sleep, thanks to having talked things out with Queenie a little more each night. Her bad dreams are still creeping up on her, even during daytime naps. Having her sister in the room helped a little, but by the second day of waking Queenie again her big sister decided that she’d take refuge in the spare room again just whilst she wasn’t at work at least. Queenie doesn’t need the extra stress or sleep deprivation.

 

Her sister had handed her the small newspaper clipping on Monday; the one about Newt coming to New York, and told her to do as she wished with it. At first, Tina was contemplating ripping it up the same as she had done with the letter that was meant for him. But, then she decided against it and read the information whilst ignoring the anxiety building up inside of her.

 

So, she knows that he arrived most likely yesterday, because today the first signing is at two in the afternoon. Tina wonders if Leta will be there. She wonders if Newt may come to visit her, but highly doubts it. Tina wants to go and see him, but she’s so incredibly torn and being hit with way too many emotions all at once. She’s unsure of she's angry at him, sad still about missing what they barely had. Then she remembers his promise to her… ‘how would you feel if I gave you your copy in person?’ That’s what he’d said. Why hasn’t he lived by his words yet?

 

“He’s probably just busy,” Tina whispers to herself, stroking her thumb over the small piece of newspaper before letting of float to the floor.

 

She almost reaches for her coat — it’s a little colder outside today, as if the weather knows what she’s feeling — but, Tina stops herself. She needs to get Newt out of her mind, because if she turns up in front of him and he’s madly in love with Leta she is going to feel like a downright fool. She doesn’t need more misery in her life, so she’s going to try and cut out this piece of sadness forever.

 

Tina nods to herself, giving her own mind some confirmation. She goes back into her bedroom, opens up the curtains and exhales slowly. “Things will get better.” The brunette whispers. She walks into the kitchen and opens up one of Queenie’s recipe books; her sister always bake when she’s feeling down. Granted the younger Goldstein is a lot better at it, but Tina might as well give it a try — she could sure use the distraction.

 

And so, Tina spends the day doing just that; distracting herself. She bakes, burns the cupcakes and then proceeds to go out and buy a hotdog instead. The witch returns home to do some reading, then does the laundry. The most minuscule part of her feels accomplished, but it’s better than she felt yesterday.

 

-

 

Her time to return back to work comes around quicker than she’s thought it would. Tina still feels drained from her nighttime terrors, but she is feeling a lot more ready to move on than she had this time two weeks ago. She walks into work beside her sister, then they separate and go to their respectful paces inside of the building. Tina wonders whether she should report to Graves before she goes to her desk, but he’s usually caught up in something or other so she assumes that he’s left a note on her desk on what she should be doing today.

 

Tina walks into the office, gaining a few smiles from her fellow aurors. They’ve most likely been instructed not to bother her by Graves; he knows more than well how it feels to return to work after a sensitive topic, not wanting anybody to pry. She sits down in her chair, then scans the desk to look for a note. But, when she feels a book sitting on her desk, her heart skips a beat. Then she reads what it says.

 

 _‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.’_ Tina feels a lump begin to form in her throat, as she reaches forwards to pick it up. She opens up the first page, and a piece of parchment paper falls into her lap. Before picking it back up her eyes settle upon the opening line; _‘Dedicated to Tina Goldstein, thank you for the title idea! Sorry it took so long.’_ She clears her throat, then picks up the parchment and begins to read again.

 

_‘Tina,_

 

_I apologise deeply that it has taken me so long to get back to you._

_As I write this I’m planning to travel to New York for my book tour,_

_and I am nervous. I don’t know who will like my book,_

_but I hope you shall love it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I admit to you now_

_that your letters brought me motivation in finishing the final pages._

_So, thank you for that. I hope you received my reply,_

_sorry that took me such a long time to finish also. I thought conjoining a long_

_reply to each one of your lovely letters would suffice._

_Sincere apologies if it was too long a read._

_I hope we may see one another on my trip! Best wishes,_

 

_Newt Scamander.’_

 

She stays sat down, her hands carefully holding the paper. Tears streak her cheeks that have grown flushed from each caring word that her eyes settled over. Tina feels like a mixture of muddled emotions; she’s guilty for doubting Newt mostly — his letter really _must_ have gotten lost in the mail after all. As well as this she is experiencing confusion, yet she’s also quite overjoyed and longing to see him once more. Her hands tremble slightly as she folds up the letter, then a memory of the same hands tearing apart her last written letter to him appears inside of her mind and she feels another wave of sadness hit her as the tears grow stronger.

 

“You… you don’t like it?”

 

_It’s him._

 

Tina looks up, and sure enough there he is right in front of her. His coat is no longer that strange choice of tea, against the mustard waistcoat, but now it’s grey; a little like her past style. He still has the same slightly lopsided posture and nervous half smile. “Newt!” She manages to choke out, and he steps forwards. “I do like it!” Tina manages to answer his question in the form of a laugh entwined with a sob.

 

“But, why are you crying?” He asks softly, stepping closer.

 

The witch wipes away another few tears with the back of her palm before standing. She steps out from behind the desk, and now they’re inches apart from one another. Newt’s eyes search her, trying to work out the problem that he so badly must fix. He can’t stand to see her cry.

 

“Because…” Tina starts, another sob stopping her from continuing. “Because, I needed you and you weren’t there.” Her lower lip trembles slightly, and she avoids removing her gaze from being anywhere but fixated down on her shoes.

 

There’s a moment of almost silence between them, aside from her quiet inescapable crying. “I’m here now, Tina. I promise,” Newt’s voice is soothing with each word. He wraps his arms around her and she immediately returns the gesture, burying her face into his upper chest. “I’m here now.”

 

-

 

**_The end._ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE.

-

 

When they break apart Tina looks up at him, feeling a newfound sense of calmness. He smiles a little. “I like your new hair,” Newt says, referring to the bangs she’d gotten cut in roughly two months back.

 

“Thanks,” Tina replies quietly, tucking a strand of or behind her ear.

 

Before either of them can continue though, a separate voice enters the equation. It’s calling for Newt. He yelps suddenly, and ducks down behind Tina’s desk. She frowns, but then turns to see a woman approaching and realises why. “Newt, I just saw you go behind there.” The rather short witch sighs. “C’mon, your signing starts in half an hour and we agreed to be there early.”

 

He pops up from behind the desk again. “Actually, uh… actually that was what _you_ told me to do.” Newt corrects her.

 

Completely ignoring him, the woman turns to Tina. “So, am I right in thinking that this is Tina?” She questions, looking back over to Newt as he clumsily gets to his feet.

 

“This is,” she replies for him, jaw clenched. “This must be Leta.” Tina retorts back.

 

The other witch’s lips curve into a smile. “You’ve seen my photo?”

 

Tina silently cringes to herself, not wanting to remember that moment right now. Not after she was so wrong about everything. “I have,” she mumbles, losing confidence now.

 

“Well, formalities aside I need Newt. Come on!” She starts walking away in her heels, and once she’s far enough away he exists from behind the desk.

 

“Newt?” Tina starts, ensuring he doesn’t disapparate just yet. “Could you come over tonight? We should talk,” she says gently.

 

“Of course.” He half smiles, giving her a little wave before disappearing.

 

-

 

When Tina arrives home that evening, Queenie senses her change in mood straight away; sure, her sister is still exhausted but there’s less sadness about her and a lot more hopefulness. “You saw him, didn’t you!” The blonde can’t help herself, as she busies about the kitchen without even needing to turn around.

 

Her elder sister rolls her eyes, but finds herself smiling. “He should be here soon,” Tina replies, ignoring her sister’s excited little squeal.

 

Sure enough, not even fifteen minutes later there’s a small knock at the door. Tina has just about gotten changed into some less restricting clothes. But, of course Queenie still manages to beat her to the door and by the sounds of the little “oof!” noise that Newt had made, she’s clearly just bombarded him with an unexpected hug.

 

“Newt, honey! Come on in.” The blonde beams, stepping aside to let the wizard enter.

 

He hangs up his coat then his eyes begin searching the room to find Tina. “How was the signing?” She asks.

 

“Oh, um, as good as it can be.” Newt nods, clearly worn out from all of the talking he’s been doing.

 

Queenie then invites the pair to take a seat at the table. “I’ll be serving when Jacob arrives,” she tells them casually, forgetting that Newt has no idea.

 

He looks over at Tina. “Kowalski Jacob?” Newt tilts his head.

 

She sighs heavily, still not recovered from… _that_ moment the other week. “It’s a long story,” Tina answers, propping up her chin with her hand.

 

“To make it shorter… he remembered!” Queenie smiles. “Well, I’d visit the bakery now and then, course I would,” she starts to ramble. “Then me and Teenie realised none of his memories related to magic were bad, right? So, that’s why he was rememberin’, then one thing led to another and… yeah.” She sighs happily.

 

Then the front door opens, and someone starts to knock. “Hey, honey!” Queenie calls over, now starting to serve the food.

 

Jacob walks in, looking excited to see everyone but then he frowns down at Newt. “I’m just kiddin’, how could I forget you, Mr. Scamander!” He chuckles, extending his hand for him to shake.

 

The wizard returns the gesture with a smile, before the other man sits down. They tuck into their food right away, and Newt had forgotten how good Queenie’s cooking really was. At the end of the meal the sisters invite each of their guests to stay, and whilst Jacob takes zero convincing at first Newt is a little skeptical. But, then he remembers the words Tina had said earlier about them needing to talk and how upset she had truly been.

 

“Of course,” Newt replies.

 

Tina sighs quietly from the relief.

 

“Do you mind sharing the spare room with me?” She asks after they’ve cleared away the table, leading him out of the kitchen.

 

“That’s fine,” he replies simply.

 

Tina watches him u latch the case in order to go down and feed the animals and change into his pyjamas. She turns her back to retrieve her own things, and is somewhat thankful he’s closed it behind him when she turns back. Although a part of her misses the adventure, but as of right now she’s a little too tired to face whatever new things he’s been rescuing.

 

When the wizard renters the bedroom, Tina is already tucked up in bed. He sits down on the edge of the bed Jacob had slept in last time, unbeknownst to him that she has been sleeping in the other bed the whole time these past few weeks. It sort of made her feel closer to him, but she feels that this is much to sad to admit to anybody but herself.

 

“Tina?” Newt whispers. When she doesn’t answer, he continues on. “Did you want to talk? Talk about what you meant when you said you needed me? Um… Tina, what did you mean by that?” He asks.

 

“Oh, uh I was just upset. It was a general thing to say.” She replies.

 

There’s a silence that looms over them before anyone talks again.

 

“Are you sure, Tina?”

 

“Yes. Goodnight, Newt.”

 

“Goodnight.”

 

-

 

It’s almost three a.m. when Newt is woken up by something. He’s always been quite a light sleeper since he was a child, so it doesn’t take much to disturb him from a slumber. He opens his eyes slowly, trying to listen out. That’s when he remembers he’s in Tina’s apartment and… is that crying?

 

“Tina?” He sits up, trying to squint through the darkness.

 

He carefully gets out of bed and wanders over to hers. She’s hunched up, her face buried in the covers. Tina flinches when he touches her back, barely even realising he was there. Now she feels vulnerable and embarrassed; he’s already seen her cry once and that wasn’t even meant to happen either.

 

“What is it? I’m here now,” he asks softly, sitting down beside her.

 

She lifts her head up. “I — I have these nightmares,” Tina admits, feeling bad for lying last night. “They're about Credence and us… and what happened that night.”

 

“Sometimes I have them too, Tina.” He whispers.

 

Tina sniffs. “You do?”

 

He nods. “I find it nice to talk to my creatures when they happen.” Newt tells her, and as of on cue Pickett pokes his head out of his pyjama pocket.

 

The witch smiles. “I think he’s worrying about you,” Newt tells her. “He’s missed you.”

 

Managing a laugh, Tina bows her head. “Newt… I — why is Leta on your book tour and not me?” She blurts out, unable to stopher curiosity and feelings from winning.

 

He seems taken aback by the sudden question at first, but only for a moment or two. “Well, it’s my engagement present,” Tina almost has a heart attack. “For my brother. I promised I’d take Leta so she could gain publicity.”

 

“Wait… your _brother_ is marrying Leta?” Tina looks up again.

 

“Yes.”

 

The realisation that everything she’d previously been thinking wasn’t real comes down on Tina all at once. She needs a few minutes to process this. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I thought you’d forgotten me.”

 

“I could never forget you!” Newt exclaims. “I sent the letter two months back, I promise.”

 

Tina sighs. “Well, the mailman has some explaining to do.” She laughs softly.

 

They fall into a comfortable silence once more, until Newt speaks up again. “Do you want… do you want me to stay?” He offers, looking around the room.

 

“Please.”

 

He lies down, pushing each anxious thought to the back of his mind. Despite not seeing Tina in so long she really needs someone right now, and whether or not that somebody is him. He’s going to have to try.

 

-

 

**_The next morning._ **

**_Thursday, 27th June._ **

 

Queenie thought it strange that Tina wasn’t already up if not gone from the apartment when she woke up, but that’s when she found her sister asleep on her bed. Entangled with Newt.

 

“Teenie,” she whispers, reaching over to gently shake her shoulder.

 

It’s Newt that stirs though, clearly forgetting the small space of bed he’s sharing as he sits up only to topple off. Queenie squeaks in surprise, jumping backwards. “You okay, Newt?” She giggles.

 

The thud he’d made upon his tumble awakens Tina, who sits up with a groan. She spies Newt on the floor and tries not to laugh. “Am I late?” She suddenly exclaims, already jumping out of the bed.

 

“No! On time.” Queenie smiles. “Breakfast will be ready in a moment, you stayin’?” She looks from Tina and then down to the wizard who’s still sat on the floor.

 

He gets to his feet and brushes himself down. “I’ll stay for a moment, I have to meet Leta soon.” Newt doesn’t sound overly pleased, and this seems to confuse Queenie.

 

But, with little time to waste she doesn’t stop to try and read him. The four get ready and when they’re all dressed he offers to walk Tina to work. So, each of them head outside together, Jacob heads to the bakery halfway and Queenie makes up some sort of excuse as to why she needs to disapparate, leaving the final pair alone.

 

They cross the road together, a gust of wind causes Tina to shiver. “Are you cold?” Newt asks, realising it obvious he’s been watching her.

 

“Uh,” she doesn’t get to finish her sentence, and begins to blush as he shrugs off his coat and hands it to her. “Newt,” Tina tries to form words but is clearly failing.

 

“Yes?”

 

She takes the coat, putting it on and laughing quietly because it’s a little too big. “Thanks.” Tina smiles.

 

“See you later?”

 

The witch nods. He hands he a piece of paper with the book store address on it and then disapparates away.

 

-

 

As the day goes on Tina feels less able to complete the tasks that Graves has given her; he has asked her to assist with writing out an instructions manual on how to approach escaped and lost magical creatures. This came out of the blue last month, but with traffickers on the rise and aurors having to deal with them he called a meeting and chose her to be the lead. Granted she’s spent time with Newt and for obvious reasons he couldn’t do it for them, but now his book is out she’s considering just buying one for everybody instead. Tina also thinks Graves is doing this as somewhat of a thanks to Newt for saving his life.

 

“Tina, how are you getting on?” As if he could hear her thoughts, Percival walks up to her desk.

 

“I was just thinkin’… New — Mr. Scamander has his book now. It’s all about the creatures and I could ask him if it’s alright to use it as our guide.”

 

He looks deep in thought for a while. “Good idea. How are you doing with looking over our apprentice aurors? Any stand out for the team?”

 

Tina gasps softly. She’d forgotten all about the second task he’d given her yesterday evening. “I —“

 

“It doesn’t need doing right away, but I’d like you to help me come to my decision by the end of the week.” His voice carries sternness, but it’s not too harsh.

 

She nods.

 

“Oh, and Tina?” The witch looks up from her stack of papers. “Switch the coffee to tea for today. You’re sounding a little hoarse.”

 

When he’s gone she frowns, unsure whether to be offended or feel somewhat happy that he cares. Tina shrugs, picking up her mug of coffee and taking the last few sips before continuing to write about how to stay calm in a situation where you’re facing a beast. Because even if they may seem dangerous, they’re most likely more scared of you than you are of them.

 

-

 

It’s almost three in the afternoon and Tina is busy zoning out, staring at the bit of paper Newt had given her this morning; it says that his second book signing starts about now. She pulls his coat tighter around her, then hears footsteps coming from nearby. Looking up, her lips curve into a smile. This is her chance. Hurrying over to the unsuspecting wizard trying to get somewhere through the office, she clears her throat.

 

“Hey, Abernathy. Would you tell Graves I’m goin’ home?” She asks.

 

He turns, frowning at her. “And, why’s that?”

 

“I’m sick.” Tina states simply.

 

Abernathy rolls his eyes. “Oh, c’mon, Goldstein. I expect this from your sister, not you too.”

 

“When have I ever gone home early like this?” She asks.

 

He starts to stammer.

 

“Exactly,” Tina folds her arms.

 

“Well, I heard you gotta lotta work left,” Abernathy counteracts, raising his eyebrows as he stares her down (well, he has to look up to do it.)

 

“I’ll puke on you. Now move,” Tina snaps, having grown tired of him getting in her way. He usually lets Queenie go much quicker than this. “Do you want me to puke on you?” She glares down at him.

 

“Oh, oh gosh! No… no, Goldstein.” Abernathy grows flustered, almost tripping over his own feet.

 

She walks by him, quite satisfied and trying not to laugh. Tina hears him squeak from somewhere behind her when she coughs, and then at the end of the walkway the witch disapparates on her way to find the bookstore. She takes a small detour to the apartment to retrieve her own copy of the book, then upon arrival to her final destination she peeks inside, spying a small line that must be to see Newt. A smile appears on her face, a sense of pride growing inside of her. The little shop bell tinkles as she steps in, and then the brunette joins the line of wizards and witches before her.

 

“Who… who can I make this out to?” Newt’s timid tone asks her, as he stares down at the pages and not up at her instead.

 

“The witch who’s mentioned on the first page?” Tina jests, smiling when he looks up.

 

“Tina!” Newt beams. “What are you doing here?”

 

The witch removes his coat, handing it over. “Thought I’d better return this.”

 

He frowns slightly, picking up the slight change in her voice. “Are you unwell?” Newt questions, genuine worry crossing his brow.

 

“I’m fine, Newt. I pestered Abernathy to let me leave early though.” Tina smirks.

 

The wizard looks back down at the book, signing is and leaving a smiley face. “Could I come over later? Make sure you’re alright?” He asks, sliding the book back across the table towards her.

 

“I’d like that.” Tina smiles.

 

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have a line.” Leta steps closer to the front of the table, and Tina has to refrain from glaring.

 

Instead she forces a smile towards the woman, then looks back down at Newt. “I’ll see you soon.” She says, picking up her book and holding it close.

 

He watches as she leaves, wishing it was her stood beside him instead.

 

-

 

When Queenie arrives home later that evening, she’s surprised to see her big sister dressed in pyjamas and curled up on the couch, snoring with a book over her face. She giggles softly at the sight, removing the book and carefully marking the page with a bookmark. As she turns to start dinner, Tina sits up. “How long… how long was I asleep for?” She mumbles groggily.

 

“Teenie, you sound terrible!” The blonde gasps. “I just got home… it’s just past five, honey.”

 

The brunette rubs her eyes. “I got home before four.”

 

“Oh! You need cocoa. And, Pepperup!” Queenie starts running to the bathroom cabinet to retrieve one of the vials she always keeps in there just in case. She hurried back into the kitchen and starts preparing the beverage.

 

“Newt’s comin’ over,” Tina says, sitting down at the table.

 

Her sister nods to show she’s listening. A few minutes later she puts down a mug of hot cocoa in front of the eldest Goldstein, pours the vial into it and a spoon floats through the air, landing perfectly gently inside of the mug and it begins to stir by itself. “You need a good night’s sleep,” Queenie sighs.

 

“Yeah, well that’s easier said than done.” Tina mutters without thinking, her head resting against her hand as she grasps the spoon between two fingers and starts to stir the drink by herself.

 

Before Queenie can react to her words there’s a timid knock against the front door, but she gives her sister a look as if to say ‘this conversation isn’t over’ before going to answer it. “Come in, Newt! We’re having soup for dinner.”

 

He walks in, hanging up his coat. Jacob exits the bedroom a moment later and Tina wonders how long he’s been here. “Tina! You’re awake… Queenie gave me a key for today and I saw you were sleepin’. I only got in around an hour ago,” the man explains.

 

She simply nods, not really wanting to engage in a full conversation right now. “You know,” Newt starts, as they all sit down for dinner. “I have some new creatures I’d like you all to meet in a little while.”

 

Everyone's faces light up at the mention of this. The adventures they’ve been craving for so long, finally returned to New York. After eating up pretty quickly and trying to guess what Newt could be talking about, Queenie hurriedly clears away the dishes. “Can we see now?” She asks him, a twinkle in her eye.

 

He chuckles quietly. “Follow me,” the wizard replies, unlatching the case and climbing down.

 

Queenie goes next, followed closely behind by Jacob. But, Tina stands opposite the open lid quite still. There’s a photo of her stuck to it; from a newspaper clipping. She feels some sort of combination between shock and pure happiness to once again find out that he cares. “Teenie?” Her sister calls out, snapping her out of the trance.

 

“Comin’!” The witch calls back, carefully stepping inside and ensuring to close the lid after her.

 

The four of them are now inside and Newt opens the door of the shed. They step out onto the dirt, each American looking around in wonder just like the first time they’d set foot in here those few months back. Talking to each creature, Newt eventually comes to a halt near what looks to be a nest carved out in a wall of rock. He reaches in, collecting five little baby creatures in his arms. The wizard grins. “Meet my baby Nifflers!” He exclaims.

 

Queenie gasps. “Oh my gosh! I adore them,” she gushes.

 

Newt hands her one to hold, then gives one to Jacob. “Tina?” He offers, noticing her wide smile as she watches on.

 

“Oh, no. I don’t wanna make them sick.” She replies, stepping backwards.

 

“They’ll be alright.” Newt says, handing her the smallest. “They’re very caring and don’t worry, a cold couldn’t hurt them at all.”

 

Tina cuddles the little creature, looking up as Newt quietly chats to the other two. A minute later Jacob shouts “hey!” causing everyone to look up, startled at his sudden reaction. “He took my watch!”

 

The little creatures climbs up the rock wall, and hides inside the nest. Handing the other two babies to a much agreeing Queenie, Newt steps towards the nest. “We’ve talked about this — she’s a she, Jacob. And, the most mischievous out of your siblings, aren’t you!” He turns back to the nest.

 

“Oh, sorry.” Jacob adds.

 

“Give that back, Mildred.” Newt scolds the creature, reaching in. “Don’t you bite me!”

 

A few minutes of negotiation pass by, and finally the wizard retrieves the watch. He hands it back to Jacob, who’s chuckling to himself. “I missed this,” he sighs happily.

 

“Me too,” Newt admits. “Sorry I didn’t come back sooner.” He looks at Tina this time, not shying away from her eyes.

 

Queenie nudges her boyfriend, who nods. The pair return the Nifflers back into the nest, and sneak away back to the shed. “Sorry I doubted you.” Tina whispers.

 

“I’ll stay.” Newt says. “I’ll stay tonight and longer if you want me to.”

 

The witch tucks her hair behind her ear, unable to hide her smile. “What about your book? What about Leta?” She can’t help but ask.

 

“I’m taking a break from the tour — London, Paris and Germany have already been and gone. New York seems like a good place to rest, don’t you think?” He starts to smile, looking down for a moment before his eyes travel back up again.

 

Tina nods.

 

“As for Leta, Theseus marries in three months. I suppose I’ll have to go. For now she’s heading back to England though.” Newt explains. “I have a hotel, and —“

 

“You can stay here,” Tina interrupts, but he doesn’t mind.

 

“Thank you,” he steps closer, taking the baby Niffler that’s fallen asleep in her arms. Newt returns him to the nest, then looks back at Tina. “Want to help me feed the rest?” He asks.

 

She nods, following him back to the shed. They feed every animal side by side, and Tina laughs when they greet her after looking at their Mother for reassurance. He introduces her to each creature and does the same towards them. Once the creatures are fed, the pair head upstairs again. They fall asleep in the same room and Newt is right by her side when she dreams of Credence hurting.

 

He stays by her side for the next two weeks, and slowly but surely Tina’s bad dreams start to fade away. She starts sleeping well again, and feeling back to herself day by day. Graves notices it, Queenie notices it and so does Newt. They stay with the same arrangement until it’s almost August, when he receives a letter from the Ministry asking for his help; there’s been an incident involving a handful of new arrival trafficked dragons in Romania.

 

So, here they are again. Stood on the docks, Tina feeling that dreadful sense of fear that he’s leaving her and not coming back. “When will you be home?” She asks, not thinking about what she’s really saying.

 

“I promise that as soon as I’m finished helping I’ll be back again.” Newt reassures her.

 

Their eyes meet. Newt doesn’t look away, and neither does Tina. She’s never noticed how much green his eyes carry before, or how the blue looks like the ocean, especially when the sun shines down upon them. He notices how golden hers seem to shine again the rays of the sun, and how beautiful they look when she’s smiling. But, hers are glistening with tears now too. He brings his hand up to tuck some hair behind her ear, but then his eyes travel down to her lips. “I promise,” Newt whispers, leaning in a little closer.

 

Tina closes the gap, unsure of where her confidence to continue what he was trying to do really came from. They kiss for only a few seconds, but the both of them start to smile the second that it happens and after they’ve both broken apart their eyes are still closed and both of their cheeks have flushed deep pink.

 

“Okay, I believe you.” She gasps, starting to giggle.

 

Newt smiles, then he grins. “See you soon, Tina! I’ll write every week and if they get lost I’ll… I’ll send a dragon to deliver it!” He beams excitedly, running to the ship with a skip in his step.

 

“Oh, please don’t.” Tina speaks through her smile, waving back at him and beginning to laugh.

 

He waves up until the last second, running around to stand at the side of the boat before it begins to move. As it slowly draws away from the docks, Newt is still waving with a smile. Tina returns the gesture until he’s out of sight, and she turns. She hopes his letters won’t get lost this time.

 

And, they don’t. Because the first one she received is a week and a half later marked in huge letters her address and the words _‘please deliver without losing, thank you!’_ She laughs aloud, opening it up. He tells her of his tasks so far, helping the injured creatures and how they’re slowly starting to trust him. Tina smiles, about to fold the letter up when she realises there’s a few more lines scrawled down on the back…

 

**_‘Tina,_ **

**_I have been thinking about this for a long time_ **

**_and have decided to finally ask you._ **

**_I like you very much, and I think you like me?_ **

**_Would you be my girlfriend?_ **

 

**_Newt.’_ **

 

-


End file.
